Versa Vice
by Anne Camp aka Obi-quiet
Summary: The end of the Dragon War was supposed to bring peace to Berk, but other clans have gotten wind of the Hairy Hooligans' new "pets", and they're jealous to say the least. Of course Hiccup and Toothless would go missing at a time like this...or did they?
1. The Switch

Note: I have not yet had a chance to read the books. This will change shortly. But as such, Astrid will be in the story, as will her dragon Fishbreath, and most of the storyline will be based off of the movie. Thank you.

Also, there will only be canon pairings in this fic. Nothing else will be insinuated at all as far as I've planned right now. Also this fic will NOT have slash or yaoi. Please don't ask for it because it won't happen.

Chapter 1

_Unrest between viking tribes isn't exactly unheard of. Actually, it fits more along the lines of "a necessary part of the culture". I once heard that vikings fight other vikings because no one else is tough enough. _

_I can believe that. _

_Of course, no one else had to live through dragon raids while refusing to leave the most miserable set of islands in existence. Yes, I said "dragon". Of course, that's all in the past. Now we have to live through training them. That also means they have to live through training us. I'm still not sure which side has it worse. _

_And therein lies the problem. Two years ago vikings had a hatred of dragons that...well, wasn't pretty. Then again, nothing a viking does is pretty. At least, not intentionally. _

_That's where I come in. _

_Hiccup Horrendus Haddock III. If you've gotten this far, you probably already know about the name. Trolls and viking kids don't mix. I don't think they'd survive. The trolls, that is. _

_You also probably know where the connection between the weakest, scrawniest viking in history and training dragons comes in. If you don't, why are you reading this? Eh, never mind. I'll summerize:_

_I couldn't kill a dragon I'd shot down, and so instead I set him free, but he ended up being trapped without the ability to fly because he'd lost a stabilizing fin on his tail. So I made one instead, got him to trust me and then got a system worked out that let's me ride him while flying. After that, we ended up taking on the head dragon and everyone lived happily ever after. _

_Okay, so I skipped a few things, but really, that's all you really need to know. _

_Well, that, and the fact that other viking tribes heard that we now have dragons as pets (don't ever tell my dragon I said that, I do not have a death wish, no matter what anyone says). _

_Vikings react to threats in three ways: 1. They get jealous and try to take what they want. 2. They get jealous and try to copy/learn/make what they want (less successful and a far less preferred to the first) or 3. They try to kill it to eliminate the threat. I'll lump "destroy", "threaten" and "maim" in there too. _

_They only go for the peaceful situation when they cannot possibly hope to do one of the above...and even then, you have to work pretty hard to get them to not run off and commit suicide in the name of their cause. _

_Fortunately, it's easy for a human's survival instincts to kick in when facing down a pack of dragons. Hence the reason why no one had openly attacked us just yet, but remember that suicide thing I just mentioned? Oh we all know that something's coming. The trading has been getting worse and worse since our problems were supposedly solved, and it's almost to a point where other vikings won't even talk to the people here on Berk. _

_And it's all my fault. _

Hiccup sighed at his internal thoughts as he stared out at the open sea, moonlight reflecting across the water stretched over the horizon. He couldn't sleep, not when he felt so guilty. He knew that he couldn't have prevented the situation any more than he could stop the sun from rising, but he was the one that ended the war between humans and dragons.

Almost single handedly. Well, not quite...

A nudge on his shoulder and a worried growling from behind him brought a sad smile to his face. Glancing over, he saw his best friend and reached out to scratch the dark, scaled nose.

His best friend also happened to be one of the deadliest dragons in existence. The same dragon that he'd hit almost two years ago, the same one he'd set free and the same one that he'd helped to fly again. The same dragon that refused to leave his side 90 percent of the time.

He'd thought ending the war between humans and dragons would help his town, and it had, but it had also opened up a whole new kettle of month-old fish. Now they had war threats from practically every single tribe within a months sailing distance. And of course, the lovely, stubborn to a fault vikings couldn't ever come to a compromise.

Sometimes he wondered if he'd gotten switched at birth; some sort of error of the Gods (not that he'd say that sort of blasphamy out loud). It amused him in a sort of morbid way to imagine a large, tough kid lumbering about way down south somewhere, eating with a family Hiccup should have been born to. Maybe one of those Celtic people (although he hadn't heard many fabulous stories about them either)?

More nudging on his shoulder broke through his thoughts. "Hey, buddy," he said, turning his attention to the still worried-looking, green-eyed reptile. "Sorry. Haven't really been myself lately."

The Dragon snorted as if to say "well, duh."

Hiccup couldn't help a snicker and pushed himself to his feet, his eyes setting momentarily on the mechanical-like limb that replaced his left leg, marveling that he'd gotten so used to it. When he'd first woken up after the fight at Helheim's Gate, he'd honestly thought he'd never get used to the contraption. But after a few slight modifications and a little time, he hardly noticed it anymore.

"How about a flight, huh?" If there was one thing that always calmed him down, flying with his dragon was definitely it. Of course, if Toothless didn't want to go anywhere, he'd let Hiccup know, and they wouldn't, but just as Hiccup had predicted, the dragon immediately lit up.

"Alright, alright," the sixteen-year-old grinned, smiling with real intent for the first time that night. Probably for the first time in days. It only took him a few minutes to grab the equipment, and then experienced hands had the dragon saddled up in no time.

Then, in a few heart-thumping seconds, they'd taken off. Hiccup had to admit, he loved take-offs, sometimes better than landings (depended on the landing). Some of those were easy to hate, but some of them easily beat the take-offs into the ground. No pun intended.

Once they'd reached a good altitude, Toothless leveled off into a calm drift as they flew out over the usual, semi-still waters of the northern ocean in late spring. Hiccup let out a deep, contented breath as his troubles seemed to blow away on the cold, northern wind. They'd be there on the island, waiting for him when he got back, but for now, he had a pure moment of bliss.

His breath streamed out behind him, white and crisp. They continued to fly out to sea to avoid the patrols that had become so mandatory. He could just imagine the look on his father's face if he found out Hiccup and Toothless had been out (much less flying) at this time of night during such unrest...again. Not something he looked forward to. That, and Astrid would probably try to break his good leg when she heard about it.

He really shouldn't break the rules, but at the moment he didn't care. He needed his freedom, just a moment to forget everything and-

A jerk from Toothless drew his attention to the almost completely black Dragon.

"Toothless?" he asked, leaning forward. "What is it."

The dragon nodded his head slightly downwards, telling Hiccup to look down. He did so, scanning the choppy, icy waves. At first he didn't see anything in the near blackness. Then, the light from the half-moon caught on something.

A boat.

"Of all the crazy..." Hiccup muttered under his breath. It was probably some fisherman from the island. Of course, it could be an enemy ship of some sort, but either way, Hiccup felt certain he could take care of it.

Nudging Toothless, they dipped downwards, speeding towards the boat. They reached another glide a few feet above the highest waves, and flared to slow down. Toothless would have to flap his wings more at this speed, but Hiccup wouldn't be able to talk to anyone in the boat if they flew any faster.

"Who goes there?" he yelled out, already adjusting the flying contraption (as Gobber called it) so they could swing around, keeping a good distance from the vessel. It wasn't very large, from what he could see. Bigger than most fishing boats, but smaller than the full-sized sailing vessels the Vikings usually took to trades or wars.

No one answered, and something about the situation made hiccup feel uncomfortable. What would a fishing boat be doing out this late at night, this far from the island. It may only have been a couple minutes flying, but by boat, it would take more than an hour to get out this far, especially with the sea the way it was.

Still, Hiccup wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. Besides, it wasn't like they could hit him and toothless at night. Not when the dragon fit so well into his own element.

"If you don't identify yourself, you will have to answer to Stoick the Vast; Chief Viking of Berk!"

That's when he heard the chanting. Soft and soothing, it seemed to float on the wind. He couldn't make out any words.

"Hello?" he yelled again, worried that maybe something had happened to the people in the boat. Maybe they were wounded? Or even, in this water, freezing to death! "If you can hear me, answer!"

Then Toothless did something he didn't often do. Without warning, he jerked at the reins and turned around heading back for the island and throwing Hiccup off balance.

"Toothless?" he asked once he'd regained balance, now focusing on his best friend and noticing with more than a little worry that the dragon had begun to shiver. Boat now completely forgotten, he leaned forward again, catching onto the Night Fury's urgency. He was working hard to get back to the island as soon as possible, his wings beating quickly, and hard.

"Toothless, what's wrong?" Hiccup yelled, just as the Dragon started to shake.

"TOOTHLESS!"

That's when he noticed the strange feeling growing at the back of his spine, a sort of numbness that felt similar to when his foot fell asleep. He ignored it in favor of figuring out what had happened to his dragon.

They'd begun to lose altitude after the short climb. He couldn't tell why, so he adjusted the fin, but nothing happened. He adjusted again, and yelped as they jerked downwards.

"Aim for a field of grass! Away from the rocks!" he shouted, his voice now harsh from the cold and continuous yelling. Toothless's ear smacked him as if to say "shut up, I know!" They'd almost reached the island again when Hiccup really noticed something.

Toothless was shrinking. The realization left him in more than a slight panic. Their speed as they approached the island didn't help.

"What the..." he started, but cut off when he felt the numb feeling grow outwards, almost like...

He looked behind him just as Toothless's wings gave out completely, and any thoughts of the strange feeling flew from his head as he and his dragon dropped like rocks out of the sky. The dragon wings on either side of him beat hard, and he refused to let go of Toothless. They reached a field that grew near the sea, and he aimed to land in a soft patch of snow that had not melted yet.

Unfortunately, this fact didn't stop the collision from hurting immensely. Both Hiccup and Toothless skidded to a stop, and saw one last look at the stars over the ocean before the blackness took even those, and they lay in huddled heaps on the cold, spring ground.

xXx

The first thing Hiccup became aware of when consciousness returned, was the fact that he felt warm. Not like snuggling under a blanket warm. No, he felt another body next to him...make that two: one on either side. They seemed to generate a good amount of heat, which he felt immensely grateful for, as he breathed in the crisp, cool morning air that still had the lingering touch of winter.

Then, as his brain began to slowly function again, he began to wonder why someone was trying to keep him warm. Had he fallen in the ocean? He didn't remember doing so.

Then he realized that his body hurt, all over, but especially around his neck and chin. He'd undoubtedly have a bruise there. When Astrid found out, she'd probably give him a matching set on both of his arms.

That's when he began to notice how hard his bed felt. With rocks. Had he fallen asleep outside with Toothless again? Well, that would take care of his problems with bruises as Astrid would spare him the pain and probably just kill him outright for that.

Well, better get this over with.

He went to move from his comfortable, curled-up position, when he heard the men speaking. Gobber? And Spitelout, it sounded like. He cracked an eye open. Yep, he was in the dragon pen. Not too surprising. He and Toothless spent a lot of time there...

Something tugged at the back of his mind, but he shoved it away to go over later as Gobber and Spitelout's conversation became audible.

"-Found them on the eastern side of the island. Never seen a dragon like him before. I'd almost say he looks just like a Night Fury, except for the coloring."

Despite himself, Hiccup perked up. A dragon they'd never seen or heard of before? He found himself wanting to meet the newcomer. Now somewhat alert, he watched both men continue to come closer. He didn't want to move at the moment. The second he did, he'd lose what warmth sleeping with the dragons gave him.

Then Spitelout said something that kicked Hiccup into high-gear.

"And you think they had something to do with Hiccup and Toothless' disappearance?"

What? They'd gone missing? That's when the strange events from the previous night finally came back, and he decided to poke his head into the conversation; at least let them know he was alright. He couldn't help but notice that his head seemed to rise a little higher and faster than it should.

"Hey, I'm right here," he said...or that's what he meant to say. It came out more like "rawawwwer rrrraah araaaarar."

"Oh, he's awake," Gobber grinned, coming over to Hiccup, who had a deep, sinking feeling in his stomach.

That's when he decided to look down at himself, hoping beyond hope that this wasn't really happening. He'd curled up into a position that was surprisingly comfortable...but shouldn't be. Looking down, he saw rust-colored, stubby-looking arms and claws instead of long, thin fingers. He had claws. Quickly, he turned to look behind him, only to see a long, reddish/brown, scale-covered body stretched out, all the way down to a tail. The heaviness he hadn't realized had been on his back turned out to be wings. Big, beautiful, crimson-colored wings that stretched out when he willed them to.

He stared at them in shock for several moments, moving them up and down slowly, as if to illustrate that yes, he was indeed moving them himself.

The two dragons (a gronkle and a nadder) that had been sleeping on either side of him didn't much care for being woken up by his sudden movements.

'Oi, go back to sleep,' the nadder muttered.

And right about then is when Hiccup decided to panic.

xXx

Toothless didn't panic.

Ever.

Okay, so he got a little worried sometimes, and he could be rather rash, but he never lost his head in a bad situation.

Until now.

At first he'd woken up slowly (and rather reluctantly due to the pain he still felt from having met the ground in the worst way possible) to see himself surrounded by several humans he'd come to know from the village, one of which happened to be the father of _his _human. It had been the looks of displeasure focused on him that got him a little worried. He hadn't seen that expression on Stoick the Vast's face in a very long time. Something was wrong. So he fell into default mode: find Hiccup. Dragons could physically handle a lot more than humans, so if something wasn't right, 99.9 percent of the time, something had happened to Hiccup.

That's when he noticed that he was in a bed. A _human_ bed. With covers and everything. And his limbs felt...wrong. Pushing his worry for Hiccup to the side for a moment (no easy feat), he looked down at himself...and utterly panicked.

PINK! Of all the colors, he had to end up looking _pink_! And he had human hands. Quickly, he reached up to his head, looking for his ears. Instead, he felt soft _hair_ of all things! And he'd lost a foot. Somehow, he felt that would be similar to his missing fin as a Dragon, but the thought did little to appease the sudden adrenalin rush.

"Calm down!" he heard Stoick growl, but couldn't stop himself from jumping up (rather awkwardly in this strange body) and backing away, looking between his hands and desperately throwing off the covers to confirm that his feet had undergone the same transformation. That's how he ended up in a tangle of firs and on the back of his neck on the opposite side of the bed.

The blow only stunned him for a moment before his mind started racing off again. Where was Hiccup? Did something happen to him last night too? What had happened? All he remembered was the strange chanting, and then the numb, tingling. He'd started to feel wrong, so he'd headed back for the island, and then the ground rushed at them...and then nothing. Looking past the men, he saw the door and made to jump for it, only to have four different (and very strong) pairs of arms grab him firmly.

"Hold him!" Stoick yelled as Toothless began to thrash, rather wildly. How could this (or any) body be so weak that he couldn't take a few simple humans?

After several minutes of futile struggling, he gave one final squeak (he could not describe such a humiliating sound any other way) and settled down, glaring up at Stoick, and looking for the slightest opening that would give him the opportunity to break free.

"Now that you're ready to listen," Stoick said, sounding rather put-out. "Let's get to my son. Where is he?"

Toothless just blinked up at the man. They didn't know where Hiccup was? Then something in his brain snapped and he began to thrash again, trying to roar in anger at their incompetence and shouting that he didn't know. It came out sounding more like a dying rodent than a dragon, and a strange heating sensation came over his cheeks.

Sighing and rubbing the bridge of his nose, Stoick paused for a moment. "Alright then," he said, sounding like it really was not alright at all, " what's your name?"

"And why were you found near a dragon?" another man yelled. "We don't know you! How do you know-"

Stoick cleared his throat, and the man looked up at him for a moment before backing down.

"Who are you?" Stoick said, rewording the question.

Toothless weighed his options. Either he could try and get across who he really was, or he could try to fight his way out again. Or he could just stay there, but if Hiccup were in danger, he had to do something. No telling what kind of danger that kid had gotten into. Sometimes he wondered if he'd gained a best friend, or an infant hatching that would forever remain such.

"Ooo," he tried, forming the shape of his mouth to what he remembered Hiccup's looking like. "Eeehhh." Yeah, as Hiccup would say "that was a fail". The vikings regarded him strangely for several seconds.

"Sir, I don't think he can speak," one man muttered to Stoick.

Toothless felt another surge of embarrassment (accompanied by that strange, hot sensation that he would normally only feel in his gut before he shot fire), and then turned it quickly into anger, growling at the man and making to strike out at him.

"If you attack him, you die," Stoick informed him calmly. Toothless regarded him for a moment before backing down, but no before sending the man a dark glare. He hated this. Humans didn't threaten him...not if they wanted to live. And now he had no way of doing anything. Were all humans this weak? No wonder they made metal teeth and fake scales for protection. He'd have to redouble his efforts with Hiccup when they got this all sorted out.

Yeah, definitely a hatchling. He slumped down on his seat with a sigh.

"He can't be an enemy spy if he can't speak," one of the men stated, relaxing his grip, as did several of the others at his observation. Toothless took note of this, slowly tensing his muscles as he waited for just the right moment...

"He can clearly understand us, even if he can't talk," the chief viking pointed out, sounding more and more frustrated with each word.

The man who spoke previously looked back up at his leader. "Then how would he be able to tell-"

Several yells cut him off as Toothless channeled all of what little strength he had into his legs and shot towards the door, ducking under the restraining hands. Obviously they hadn't been expecting something from him as he escaped their grasp fairly easily, ducked by Stoick and was out the door before anyone could say much of anything.

They'd been in one of the side rooms of the great hall. Toothless hadn't ever actually been inside them as there had never been a need, and he'd been worried that he wouldn't know where he was in the town. The rooms obviously made decent cells when someone needed to be held, but because all of the interrogators and the chief had been inside the room with Toothless, they hadn't locked (or even securely shut) the door.

Of course, once he was past the initial bound and no longer had anything to really hold onto outside the room, he realized how difficult it would be to outrun anyone without a leg. His opinion of human bodies dropped even lower, if that were even possible. Gritting his teeth in determination, he lunged forward, barely catching himself on one of the large, empty tables just as the men behind him practically broke down the swinging door.

"There he is, get him, men!"

Oh how Toothless missed his wings. No wonder the humans kept clamoring after dragons. No one should be this unable to fly away at times of danger. Still, Hiccup had managed as a legless human somehow, so Toothless would too. He dragged himself as quickly as he could onto the table, using the momentum to duck into a roll. It hurt more than it did as a dragon, but he ignored the pain (and the rather dizzy feeling that came with it) and fell off the first table in a somewhat controlled manor, manging to catch himself on the second one.

He'd just leapt up and onto the wood when something reached down and grabbed him by the scruff of the plain tunic they'd somehow managed to get him into. In seconds, he found himself looking down at the ground and wondering on the irony of the fact that he'd just wished to fly only moments before. Somehow, he knew this wouldn't end well.

"Nice try," Stoick growled, turning Toothless to face him.

Toothless saw the man's expression and suddenly had an all too real experience at how Hiccup felt every time his father caught him doing something strange or harmful. While his opinion of the human body couldn't have gone lower, his opinion of his human soared to new heights.

"Well, boys, what should we-"

"Ic!" Toothless managed to say. Stoick stopped looking down at the defiant gaze the former dragon now regarded him with. Toothless had very little idea as to how to form the last syllable of his friend's name, so he tried the first part again. "Hic!"

The men gathered around him, some looking confused (although most looked rather miffed). "What's he trying to say?"

"Hiccup?" Stoick asked, his voice carrying a threat under all the hope.

Ignoring the implications in the other's voice, the former dragon nodded. "Hic!"

"Where is Hiccup?"

Toothless blinked, then looked down in shame. He'd lost his human, the one he'd sworn to protect. "Hic...up," he said softly, trying to form his mouth around the strange sounds.

Surprisingly, the large viking seemed to get the picture. "You don't know."

Slowly, Toothless shook his head.

After several tense moments, Stoick sighed and set Toothless down. "Come on," he said. "Let's see what Gobber can do about your leg.

xXx

"You sure the spell worked?" the harsh voice streaked through the wavering firelight of the small island they'd taken shelter on. The old woman looked up from where she'd been trying to warm her old hands.

"I canna tell," she croaked. "Dun't kno' how it 'fects dragons. They're magical bein's themselves."

The larger figure of a man with gray-streaked black hair and beard suddenly changed, his aura turning menacing. Holding back a wince, the old woman leaned away from him.

"Let's hope, for your sake, that it did," he said, his tone holding a the certain promise of immense pain.

The old woman gulped and nodded.

xXx

"So ya think the boy had anythin' to do with Hiccup's disappearance?" Gobber asked around a mug of mead, despite it still being fairly early in the morning.

Stoick shook his head, watching the boy explore the shop like he'd never seen half of the weapons and tools before. Probably hadn't, if he couldn't even speak.

"Not on purpose," he muttered, trying to hold back a cringe. Too many of this boy's mannerisms reminded him of his lost child, pounding a steak into his heart with every limped step. His artificial leg wasn't more than a peg at this point, but the way he dragged it along, and the way he looked at each new find... At least wherever Hiccup was Toothless probably was too, so he had some protection, but that didn't bring more than marginal relief to Stoick's mind.

"But it can't be a coincidence. Those things don't happen...unless there are pixies involved!" Gobber's eyes suddenly lit up as Stoick rolled his. Trust his friend to come up with the least likely explanation.

"That boy knows Hiccup," Stoick continued as if he hadn't heard Gobber's unlikely comment. "But he's just as worried about him as we are."

Gobber set his mug down and leaned against a window sill, his own eyes finding the dark-haired boy. "His eyes look jus' like Hiccup's. Who is he?"

Stoick shook his head again. "I don't know."

"Ah well," the blond man stood up, stretching his good arm over his head. "Yer son's only been gone a night. Maybe he'll be back."

"He shouldn't have been out at all!" Stoick rounded on his best friend and second in command.

Gobber shrugged, completely unaffected by the larger man's show of strength. "Since when has that ever stopped him?"

Stoick immediately deflated at the statement. "Yer right," he muttered.

"So, what do we do with him?" Gobber nodded towards the boy, who had found Hiccup's old desk and had begun to look through the parchments almost reverently, handling the paper like he'd never touched anything so fragile in his life.

"I don't know."

"Well he's gotta stay somewhere," the older man pointed out.

Stoick had seen that one coming. "Alright, he'll stay wi' me." That way no one would have a chance to take Hiccup's disappearance out on the boy and he might be able to get some sort of information out of the semi-mute.

"An' what about the dragon he came in with? Gave me a right scare this mornin'."

"That's another thing," Stoic said slowly. "How could he have come in with a dragon? No one else has been able to tame the beasts."

Apparently he wasn't talking as quietly as he should because the boy looked up, shooting a glare at them. It looked terribly familiar, but not like Hiccup at all. No, this boy seemed more fierce somehow. Stoick couldn't place where he'd seen that expression before for the life of him. After a few moments, the boy turned back to the desk and set everything straight before continuing around the room.

"Aye, I haven't heard o' anythin'." Gobber conceded. "Tha's why the other men think he might be a spy."

"Or a runaway," Stoick responded. "Someone who learned to train dragons on his own island, but was harassed or hurt for the knowledge and so he came here."

"Perhaps."

They sat in silence, watching closely as the boy came upon a reflective shield and jumped back, hissing. Then he regarded the metal in surprise and lifted a hand to touch it. Again he jumped back when the somewhat blurry form of the boy in the metal did the same. Then he lifted his hands to touch his face, eyes widening in surprise.

"I don't think he's ever seen a mirror before," Gobber commented.

"They're rare enough," Stoick replied.

"True, but still, never seein' your own reflection..."

Stoick nodded. The boy was indeed a mystery. One he intended to crack.

"Oh, and ya may want ta keep him away from the Hofferson girl," the blacksmith said, obviously finished with his break as he reached over for some tools.

"Astrid? Why?" Stoick asked. "Isn't she the one that found him?"

Gobber nodded. "Yeah, but if she thinks he has anythin' to do with Hiccup disappearin', she'll probably kill him."

Stoick couldn't help but snicker at that. Of course his boy would gain the attention of the most dangerous girl on the island. Well, at least they had one thing in common.


	2. Chats and Observations

_Let me tell you something about changing into a dragon: Don't. Well, if you can help it, which most of you can. Be thankful you don't have to worry about it. Why? _

_Well, first of all, the food. To this day I can't figure out which is worse: catching and eating live fish and __other __pr__e__y, __or eating the slop that we humans tend to feed our dragons. On the one hand, try to imagine how disgusting it is to have a warm, gritty meal__ sloshing around in your mouth and then in your stomach (and it's three times as bad if it comes back up. Now there's a memory I'll never get over), or eating a pile of something that humans probably wouldn't eat that have been dead for who knows how long and is usually slimier than...well, I'll leave that simile up to you. I also hate how you inevitably get the flies too._

Using both clawed forepaws to shove the bowl of slop Gobber had given him earlier in the morning as far away from his mouth as he could possibly manage, Hiccup determinedly turned his attention (and his entire body) toward his other problem of the day: trying to communicate with several curious reptiles. Dragons, as Hiccup quickly discovered, didn't really "talk" the way humans did. They communicated through directly projected thoughts and feelings combined with body language and expression. Hiccup had already suspected that, and couldn't help the excitement that rose inside him at the prospect of his theory being proven true. They could also communicate through grunts and growls, but seemed to prefer to use what they called 'higher speech'.

Now he sat in a circle, surrounded by many dragons that had gotten curious about him, hardly able to contain his enthusiasm. It had taken Hiccup a while, but after he'd calmed down that morning, he'd suddenly begun to realize what kind of a situation he had before him. This was a time to really communicate with the other dragons, as he could now (somehow) understand just about everything they 'said'.

Already that morning he had discovered his theory about dragons being at least slightly telepathic was true. He'd also proven his theory of their intelligence true as well. Maybe they weren't quite as creative as humans, but they all seemed to be coherent enough to converse with each other as they were doing now.

He did admit that it was slightly disturbing to hear their rather graphic descriptions as they discussed their various food preferences (which, as noted previously: Yuck), but they were obviously intelligent enough to actually have discussions and refer to previous conversations. Even the gronkles greeted him dully, although Hiccup had had to tell most of them his name several times as they couldn't seem to remember it...or anything else anyone said to them.

_'So let me get straight,'_ Fireworm—Snotlout's Monsterous Nightmare—"spoke" up. '_You __a human, belong to __-'_ at this point, she would send an unmistakable image of Toothless to his head, with a question and more than a touch of respect. _'__The __nice human__,' _image of Toothless again, _'__protects __like own hatchling__?' _ Briefly, Hiccup wondered why she hadn't actually said Toothless' name. Fireworm used her own human-given name on a regular basis, but most of the other dragons tended to refer to themselves and other dragons directly in pictures.

Hiccup didn't know if he liked the sound of her words, but he also didn't know how else to answer. _'Uh, yes?__'_

_'But you have turned into a marvelous creature like me for not known reason?' _

_'Yes.'_

_'I like you better as human,'_ a nadder muttered. One or two other nadders had joined the group as well, and they all crooned and sent feelings of agreement.

Hiccup couldn't help himself. _ 'Oh? Why?'_

_'You most nice human,' _one of them grumbled, lying on the ground in what Hiccup swore was a pout.

'_You like us,' _one of the heads of the one of the two zipplebacks (yes, that made four heads, and Hiccup was having a hard time telling them apart) that had joined the group.

_'So do the other humans,' _Hiccup protested, although he couldn't help but feel touched and even a small swell of pride at their words.

_'Not like you,' _Fireworm said, sounding grumpier than ever.

_'Well, thank you,' _Hiccup said._ 'But I still think you're wrong. Snotlout wouldn't shut up about you when you two bonded.' _

The Monsterous Nigtmare regarded him for several seconds. _ 'You different, even as __marvelous creature__.'_

Well that was random. He was sure she meant it as a compliment, or even just an observation, but he couldn't help but sigh dejectedly at that, laying his head on his paws.

_'Yeah, I tend to be like that,' _he muttered.

The group remained silent for quite a while at his words each staring the other down. Just when Hiccup began to feel really awkward, a distraction broke through the group in the form of Snotlout and Tuffnut walking up to them.

"Whoa," Snotlout said, surprised. "That's strange. It's almost like they're all talking to each other." After realizing that he was having a hard time identifying every dragon that spoke to him, Hiccup had asked them to gather around him as it made it easier to identify which dragon was projecting their thoughts as they'd usually also move and/or grunt when they did so.

"Yeah," Tuffnut agreed, eying the group of dragons questioningly.

_'You rider need to smell better,'_ one of the nadders said to the twins' zippleback and then Hiccup watched with a smirk as every single one of them sauntered off. Several terrors flew around their heads yelling,_ 'Wash him! Smell bad!' _

"So he's the new guy," Tuffnut said, walking up to Hiccup and studying him with a hand on his jaw.

Hiccup suddenly realized what the nadders had said hadn't been far off. For some reason, Tuffnut really stank. He hadn't smelled anything that strong since Toothless had done his business in the house. His father had not been pleased with either one of them that day (although he'd suspected the dragon had known exactly what he'd done).

"Hi," the blond boy said, grinning a somewhat toothless grin and slowly stretching his hand out, keeping his movements slow and obviously placating. Hiccup felt another swell of pride that the others had actually listened to him.

Holding his breath, Hiccup put his head forward, nudging the hand with his nose.

"Hey! It worked! First time too!" Tuffnut crowed, startling Hiccup and the remaining dragons.

"Dude, is it just me, or does he look just like someone painted Toothless?" Snotlout came up behind his best friend, looking Hiccup over.

"Sure doesn't act like him," Tuffnut said, now scratching Hiccup on the bridge of his nose. That felt _really _good. "He actually let me touch him!"

"Yeah," Snotlout said uncertainly.

'_Can you tell what they say?' _Fireworm asked suddenly, still sounding rather grumpy.

Hiccup blinked. _'Yeah. Can't you?'_

_'__Yes...usually__,' _the red dragon conceded, not looking happy that she'd just given away a weakness. Hiccup couldn't help but be surprised. Toothless seemed to have very little problem understanding Hiccup. Was that because they just knew each other so well, or was it because Toothless had more intelligence than an average dragon?

_'They're talking about how I'm new, and they think I look just like Toothless.'_

The gronkles and zipplebacks suddenly burst into the fast, grunting noises Hiccup had come to know as Dragons expression amusement. They were laughing. _'That really__,' _image of Toothless,_'__name?' _One of the two-headed dragons managed to ask.

_'Yeah, why?'_

"Huh, wonder what they thought was so funny," Tuffnut commented, looking at the still chortling dragons.

"I dunno," Snotlout responded, looking between Hiccup and the other dragons suspiciously.

"Let's get going," Tuffnut said, giving Hiccup one last scratch before heading over to his own dragon. "Before they hurt themselves. Besides, we gotta find Hiccup before dinner. I'm not missing another meal."

"Right," Snotlout said again, studying Hiccup for just a few moments longer before he also turned to his own dragon, approaching cautiously.

The Monsterous Nightmare just rolled her eyes and stood up, waiting rather impatiently for him to lead her away to get saddled. _'Does he always have to act like this?'_ she muttered.

Hiccup sniggered a bit. _'Well you do tend to give off a rather mean aura.'_

Fireworm raised an eyebrow, looking back at him. _'Thank you, human.'_

The former human decided it was in his best interest to not correct her on his intentions. _'Call me Hiccup.'_

Again the zipplebacks and gronkles burst into laughter, startling Tuffnut again.

_'Hey,' _Hiccup said, frowning (if that were really possible as a dragon) defensively,_ 'it scares away trolls.'_

_'I don't know if you notice, young one,'_ Fireworm said, not even bothering to turn and look at him, _'but you __not__ need something so silly to scare off trolls __now__.' _Hiccup looked down at himself again. She had a point. _'And I honored you give me permission to use name,'_ she called back, still sounding as regal as ever.

He turned to talk to the other dragons again when he heard a very familiar voice.

"This is where we keep our dragons," the loud voice of Stoick the Vast echoed around the loud clang of the door opening before him.

Hiccup looked over to see his father lead a smaller, rather skinny boy with dark hair and green eyes into the arena, both followed by Gobber.

"Well, most of 'em," Gobber added on as he closed the door.

With a grin breaking onto his draconian face (which actually made him look rather creepy), he burst into a run, heading right for Stoick. Surely his father would recognize him!

"Stoick! Look out!" Gobber shouted.

"I saw him," Stoick said, dropping into a fighting stance.

He needn't have worried. Hiccup wasn't exactly the kind of person who tackled his father on a regular basis, and he even in his relief at seeing his father, he figured now wouldn't be a good time to start. He came to a rather abrupt stop just before he ran into the large viking, not about to give the man a chance or reason to throttle him.

_'Dad! Dad it's me! Hiccup!'_ He vaguely heard the other dragons break down into laughter again. Well, at least they were easily entertained.

Stoick and Gobber (who had dragged the boy behind him protectively) stood there for several seconds, facing the new dragon who seemed to have absolutely no intention of attacking them.

_'Come on, dad! Please!'_

"So this is his dragon?" Stoick said, relaxing slightly, although he didn't drop his wary look. Of course, 'relaxing' to Stoick the Vast meant going from "Pounce and Kill" to "Bring it, punk".

_'You're not even going to try, are you,' _Hiccup couldn't help but mutter sarcastically, saying it as more of a statement than a question. Upon realization of this fact, he thumped to the ground in annoyance, glaring at the trio of humans.

"Aye," Gobber said, nodding and dropping his protective stance completely. The dark-haired boy stepped out from behind him, glaring up at the larger man with green eyes. Hiccup didn't notice him, more intent on his father. "Don't know his name, or even what breed he is."

"He looks like a Night Fury, but with different coloring," Stoick muttered, studying the dragon

The boy's head snapped up at the description, and then he looked over at Hiccup, who decided that getting his father to figure it out was a lost cause and had begun to study the boy as well.

_'You really could take that further, __dad, but you won't. Why am I surprised? Seriously? Why would my father, who grew up hating dragons ever think his son might be one.'_ Hiccup let out a low growl. _'Then again, that __does sound a bit too crazy__, __even for me__._'

"That he does," Gobber agreed, stepping up. "Just as moody though."

_'Am not!'_ Hiccup shot at the blacksmith, who (of course) couldn't hear him. The boy also shot the older viking a glare for just a moment before looking back at Hiccup.

"Don't know if that's because-" Gobber continued, but someone else cut him off.

"Hic?" The boy said, stepping forward.

He had charcoal colored hair that came down just past his ears and dark freckles strangely enough around his eyes and cheeks instead of his nose. His body reminded Hiccup of his own human body, wiry and lean, but it was the green eyes that really gave it away. Something about them just seemed too familiar to Hiccup.

_'Toothless?__'_ he asked, lifting his head up to study the boy more intently.

"Hic! Hic-up!" he said excitedly, staggering/running up to the dragon with a rather obvious limp and throwing his arms around him. Then he proceeded to do something completely disturbing. He licked Hiccup's scales.

Gobber and Stoick suddenly looked a little green.

"He can't be a viking. Even we're not that disgusting," Gobber commented.

The boy's actions cinched it. _ 'Toothless! What happened to you? What did you...wait...your leg...'_ He bent his head down, looking over the peg leg that had been strapped to Toothless's (because it had to be him) left leg. _ 'It's just like mine.'_

His face lit up in realization as he looked back at his own tail. He'd noticed it had been damaged, and had even noted that the exact same fin had been missing on Toothless. Before, he'd only been able to wonder why. Now it all clicked.

_'We switched bodies!' _he said, whipping his head back around to look at Toothless. _'Toothless I figured it out! We-,'_ the look of utter heartbreak on his human features stopped Hiccup short. _'Toothless?'_ he nudged him with his nose.

Toothless made a few grunts, as if to say, _'I don't know.' _

_'You can't understand me, can you?' _he said, his own voice filling with his usual sarcastic tone that stated "of course this would happen".

"Well, they obviously know each other," Gobber turned to Stoick, who watched the newly reunited pair with furrowed eyebrows. "What?"

"Somethin' seems...off," he said.

"Oh?" Gobber asked, watching the pair again. "What?"

"He called his dragon 'Hiccup'."

"Well, it was more like 'Hic-up', but yeah. Shame. Who would've thought he would've named his dragon that. Too bad he didna mean your pain in the neck of a son."

Stoick shook his head. "No, there's somethin' else here." He continued to watch the reunited dragon and human for several more seconds before he shook his head. "But it's somthin' I'll have to think on. I'm headin' out. Make sure someone watches both of them at all times. I still don' trust them."

"Aye, aye," Gobber said dismissively, waving his hooked limb at the chief.

As Stoick walked away, he began to ponder Gobber's words. Who would name a dragon "Hiccup", and why? Then an image crossed his mind, of this new dragon hiccuping, flames flying everywhere uncontrollably. With his son gone, there was only one person he trusted to take care of a menace like that: the same one who had taken care of his own little menace.

"Oh, Gobber," he turned to the handicapped man. "I'm putting you in charge of them. Both of them."

"Aye, ay—wait, what?"

xXx

It took most of the day for Hiccup to realize that he could _almost_ understand Toothless' grunts. Well, some of them. Okay, a few of them. He didn't know if that were because of the bond they shared (and how well he knew his best friend) or if it was because he'd become a dragon and Toothless was trying to speak to him in "Dragonese".

They couldn't seem to get past the most basic concepts, but Hiccup felt it was better than nothing. Still, he couldn't help but find himself more and more frustrated that Toothless couldn't even seem to understand his own name, as well as half the other ideas Hiccup presented. Eventually he got across the notion that they needed to get the people to realize what had happened, and Toothless would have to tell them.

The hard part was telling Toothless this.

"Hic," Toothless said dryly. Hiccup got the picture. How was Toothless, who could barely even say Hiccup's name, be able to tell anyone anything at all?

'Working on it,' Hiccup muttered, not caring if the other understood him or not.

By the time Snotlout and Tuffnut came back that evening, Hiccup had started to realize just how hopeless their situation seemed. He watched dejectedly as Ruffnut yelled at her brother for taking 'their' dragon without her permission, which caused Hiccup to snort as the siblings broke into their usual arguments. As if any dragon needed a human's permission to go anywhere. Letting out a sigh, he looked over at Fireworm as she stalked over to her den, obviously tired and wanting to be left alone.

Snotlout walked past Hiccup, rolling his eyes at the twins, whose argument had been reduced to an outright brawl. If he were human, he'd probably be right there with Snotlout, heading home for the night. He still wanted to use the circumstances to learn more about the dragons, but he also desperately wanted to get back to his original body. What he could gather from Toothless said the former dragon felt the same.

They both fell asleep in the dragon pen that night, Toothless curled up at his side. As he watched the sleeping form, he felt the strong urge to protect the boy. Was that how Toothless normally felt about him? Did all dragons that bonded feel this strongly about their humans? Was it even a dragon instinct? Or did he feel that way because out of the two of them, he now had the brawn and stamina.

As he began to drift off himself, he wondered how his girlfriend would react to having a dragon for a boyfriend? The thought had him chuckling as he slowly lost consciousness. He'd found yet another reason to get back to his original body. He would _not_ give up Astrid.

His last thought of the night that drifted across his mind was a memory of Astrid throwing her ax in target practice. Strangely enough, the memory seemed to calm his troubled mind down, despite its rather harsh implications.

xXx

"The boy was found near a dragon, with Toothless' harness somehow tangled up all over him! He has to know where Hiccup went!" Someone yelled from the back of the crowd. A roar of approval supported his comment.

"Then what do you suggest we do with the boy, Codtail?" Stoick asked, sitting back in his chair and not even trying to hid his irritation. He noticed a few people backing away from him out of the corner of his eyes.

"Torture him until he tells us!"

Stoick sighed. "He _can't _tell us. He isn't able to talk."

"That's because no one has tried to make him!" Someone else roared. More approval greeted that line.

Stoick held up his hand for silence. The room calmed down quickly. "He has tried to do no harm to us in any way. As long as we keep him under close guard, I don't want to make a move until we have proof that tells us otherwise. If he did do something to my son," his gaze darkened, "I will take care of both him and his dragon myself."

A few discontented murmurs met with several approving whispers for several moments before the chief broke the semi-quiet with a new topic.

"Now if that's done, the next item to discuss is Winter Storage-" Stoick inwardly sighed. Sometimes being a leader of a village had its perks. Other times, it really didn't.

xXx

Dyre the Massive was not pleased. Most vikings, when not pleased, tended to have very loud tempers that brought down buildings and broke boulders in half. Dyre had never been that way. It wasn't that he couldn't. No, his mammoth-like stature assured himself (and everyone around him) that he could indeed do those kinds of things if he wanted to. Maybe that's why he had never had the fiery temper most vikings were known for.

When he got angry, he got quiet. People around him seemed to tense up, knowing very well that he could probably snap their most powerful warriors in half if it suited him. He rarely got pushed far enough to snap, but when he finally did, he didn't break inanimate objects...

Even his wife had found other (very empty) quarters to occupy for the last few days because of his less than happy mood. Of course, this did little to lighten the red cloud that had seemed to settle over the chief of the Marked Marauders clan.

That's why the knock on the door piqued his interest. Stroking his dark brown beard with one massive hand, he considered this new development. Who was brave enough to take their life in their hands and actually try to contact him? Whoever it was had to have something vitally important, and they were either very brave, or very stupid. Depending on how impressed he was with whatever they had to say would determine whether they lived or not.

"Come in," he said, his voice barely loud enough to be heard.

The door opened without hesitation. That alone gave away the identity of the person who had come to see him, and he felt himself torn between tearing the offender limb from limb, or laughing an clapping him on the back.

Instead, he chose neither, watching the black-haired man drag in a shivering old woman. Despite her own viking-like stature, she looked frail and thin, and even Dyre could see the unhealthy pale hue of wrinkled skin that seemed to droop face. She coughed, pulling a wet cloak more tightly around her, refusing to meet his eyes.

"Borg," Dyre heard himself saying, choosing to ignore the pathetic woman completely. "As I recall, you said you would be done with your task three weeks ago. I thought I would have to send someone after you."

The dark-haired man said nothing, staring straight ahead, not offering any information, but not backing down. Dyre felt his mood lift slightly. He always found himself so impressed with his second in command. Instead of making excuses or even taking all the blame, he waited for permission to speak. The perfect soldier.

"Tell me exactly what happened."

"We sailed to the island of Berk one month ago. As we sailed north, we ran into a storm and had to beach for two nights while waiting for the storm to calm enough so we could continue on our journey. We reached an island just outside of Berk that would allow us protection from the elements and the patrols-"

"Patrols?" Dyre snapped.

Borg nodded. "Yes sir. They have regular dragon patrols. As we do not know the full extent of the island species, I felt it better for the mission if we did not try to land on the island."

Dyre's glower deepened, but he said nothing, so Borg continued on.

"We were unfortunately not very close to the actual island, and as such, we had to sail or row into the open sea and wait for a target to show themselves."

A cruel smile appeared beneath Dyre's beard. "I see. You did not return with bad news, I trust." Of course he wouldn't. Borg wasn't that stupid.

"Yes, a target came to us not three days ago. The old woman cast the spell, and then they disappeared."

Dyre blinked, unsure of what to think of that news. "As in vanished?"

Borg shook his head. "I believe they flew back to the island."

"Do you know what became of them? Did the spell have the desired effect?"

The black-haired man shook his head. "We do not, sire. I came back with the intention of recommending a trade ship to find out."

The clan chief stroked his beard again, now looking thoughtful. "A wise choice," he said finally. "Very well, you have permission. But Borg..." his tone suddenly turned icy. "Don't keep me waiting much longer."

The other man bowed low. "Of course, my liege. May I ask one more thing?"

Dyre sat back in his chair and nodded.

"Would you like me to take the ransom note and leave someone on the island to deliver later? Or would you like to have a war ship do that?"

Silence fell over the room with the exception of the old woman's low muttering. Then, the quiet shattered as Dyre let out a booming laugh. "This is why I made you my second in command. Always thinking ahead. Take someone and leave him there to deliver the message. We'll have a war ship deliver a copy of whatever ransom you have written down."

Borg bowed low again. "Very good, my liege. And what of the old woman?"

The soft muttering stopped. Dyre smiled. It was not kind.

"Of course, my liege," Borg said again, his voice quiet. The old woman exchanged glances between the two, confused.

Borg escorted her out the door, closing it behind him.

Dyre simply reached for a mug of mead, his mood much improved.


	3. Problems and Obstacles

Sorry it's been so long. I've gone through at least two beta readers and been rather busy with...other stuff. ^^; So this is finally updated without being beta'd. Hope you like it.

I've also changed Astrid's Dragon's name to Stormfly like it was in the Short that came out (I LOVED it, btw), but Fireworm is probably going to stay Fireworm instead of Hookfang.

Oh, and from now on, dragon speak is going to be in italics and apostrophes (' ').

**Chapter 3**

_Being a dragon doesn't automatically make you graceful. Look at gronkles. It does, however make you stronger. Well, it made me stronger; it would probably make dad weaker. Most vikings would love the power that comes with being a dragon. As for me, being the king of clumsy, I usually just end up ramming my body into walls, doors, and somehow the ground. Not too different from normal except now I have a lot of power to back it up, and so instead of just me being the only thing hurt like it was when I was a human...well, let's just say that Berk's going to have to go back to rebuilding a lot of houses, part of the great hall and some of the dragon's cage. At least I didn't burn them down._

Hiccup woke up on his second day as a dragon with a brilliant idea. He would write to his father, let him know what happened that way. Most dragons didn't write, so the fact that he could should be proof enough of his story being true. He could scratch it into the dirt with his claws, maybe even get to a point where he could find a way to use his claws to actually write in ink.

Of course that led him to the excellent idea of _teaching _dragons how to write, and he couldn't contain his excitement. The thought had him on his feet (all four) and pacing before he'd realized he'd done so. His movements dislodged Toothless from where he'd slept at Hiccup's side.

Rubbing his eyes sleepily, the black-haired boy watched from where he sat on the ground.

"Cold," he muttered in what barely passed for dragonese as Hiccup could understand it.

Hiccup stopped his excited pacing and padded up to sit next to the boy again. Toothless curled up beside him, trying to get warm again in the chilled morning air. This brought yet another observation to Hiccup. As a dragon, he hadn't been really cold once. He'd noticed the warmth from the other dragons, but it hadn't really hit him as to just how well he could withstand the cold himself. Was that due to the dragon scales, or something else? He'd almost think it would be the fire they could create, but dragons didn't store fire in their bodies. They stored the gas and then sparked it somehow. Hiccup hadn't quite figured out how yet. The way some dragons breathed fire made him think they set it alight in their mouths, but other times the flow came out so quickly, he couldn't think that their teeth or whatever would be able to create the spark needed. Was there something inside their throat, perhaps? Maybe in their stomach?

And right about there is where his entire thought process stopped, because in through the door, walking with a determined gait and a murderous glint, came Astrid.

She looked around, finally spotting Toothless and Hiccup in the corner. The latter gulped when she turned her far-too-intense gaze on them and came stalking over, eyes narrowed.

"Where is he?" she hissed. Hiccup vaguely wondered as he backed away if he could hear such a quiet sound so well because of his dragon hearing, or because Astrid just had that way of making her thoughts public knowledge. Toothless had noticed her too, and sat up, smiling. Then he noticed the expression on her face and began to look around nervously. He must have noticed Hiccup backing away, because he did so too, taking several steps so he could be by his partner's side.

"Don't you back away from me, coward!" she bellowed.

Even if toothless couldn't understand her words completely, he got her meaning, and immediately dropped into a defensive crouch. Sadly, even Hiccup could see how many openings his stance left, but then, Toothless was trying to translate his movements over to human from a...very different body.

It suddenly struck Hiccup as to how defenseless Toothless was like this. Somehow, he found the courage to step between Astrid and his best friend, even convinced as he was that doing so would be taking his life in his own hands. Astrid didn't always think rationally when she was upset, except when thinking up ways to painfully defeat and/or torture the person who opposed her.

Or in this case, dragon.

She paused as he stepped calmly into her path, watching as her face twisted into confusion. She'd probably expected him to pull a "Toothless" and pounce growling. Hiccup had never been particularly good at growling, so instead he did what he always did when confronting someone; he stood calmly, neck straight and eyes firmly on hers.

"Move, dragon," she growled.

He didn't budge a muscle, staring her down with the same expectant stubbornness he usually showed when doing something stupid, or crazy...like getting between Astrid and her destination.

"I said move!" she threatened.

Hiccup shook his head definitively.

She paused, looking surprised again. "Wait, you can understand me?"

He could have kissed her. He should have known he could count on Astrid! Instead of licking her (the dragon's show of extreme appreciation) though, he nodded, deliberately.

She gasped, backing up. "You can understand everything I'm saying?"

Again, he nodded.

"Then where is Hiccup?"

_'Well,' _Hiccup thought, _'that shoots that idea down._' And here he thought he'd finally be able to explain this to everyone through Astrid. 'I'm right here,' he muttered

"And who is he?"

'Toothless,' he thought, miserably.

Apparently the dragons had been listening in, because many of them started snickering. Apparently understanding he was the source of their scorn, Toothless tore his gaze away from Astrid just long enough to shoot a glare over at them. It didn't help them want to stop.

Thankfully, Astrid seemed to realize her mistake. "You can't really answer anything but 'yes' or 'no' right now, can you?"

Hiccup looked up again, met her eyes, and shook his head sadly.

"Do you know where Hiccup is?"

He paused for a moment before nodding.

She looked down, biting her lip and playing with some of the bangs that fell down beside her face, thinking.

_'Come on, Astrid,' _Hiccup thought, looking at her intently, encouraging her silently.

"Can you take me to him?"

Hiccup paused. Well, he couldn't technically because he was right there. So he shook his head.

Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she advanced. "Why not?"

Being a dragon, he probably weighed four times what she did. He could also shoot flame (well, he wasn't a hundred percent sure on that one), fly (well, he had the mechanics to...sort of) and probably chomp her in half if he really felt like it. But at that moment, all he knew was that an angry Astrid was stomping towards him, looking like she'd like to kill him. And she probably could too, despite all of his current "improvements".

_'A dozen advantages, and I still can't come close to taking her down,'_ he thought sarcastically.

_'You'd better not,' _Stormfly, spoke up. _ 'She's mine!' _

He didn't take his eyes off of her as she fearlessly stalked up to him. "Why can't you take me to him?"

He took another step back, and blinked because she wasn't there anymore. One moment she'd been angrily staring down a dragon several times her size, and the next, he saw a black and pink streak go by, taking her with it.

Worriedly, he whipped his head in the direction the streak had gone, and found himself surprised when Toothless hiss/growled at her where she lay on the dirt looking rather surprised herself. Her shock quickly turned to anger as she looked up at the scrawny boy who had the audacity to sneak up on her.

Now that her focus went to Toothless again, Hiccup knew this wouldn't end well. He could see in her eyes that this time, she was not about to hold back. With an infuriated scream, she launched herself up at the kid, knocking him to the ground and getting ready to pummel him for all he was worth.

Hiccup watched in horror as his girlfriend and his best friend started brawling. All Toothless seemed to know how to do was scratch, bite, and dodge Astrid's fists to some extent, however that wasn't about to win the battle. He seemed confused that nothing he could do would hurt the girl in front of him.

As for Astrid, she had no problem doing everything she could to ram the dark-haired boy's face into the dirt, ignoring the distress growing in the rust-colored dragon behind her.

_'Astrid! No! Toothless! Wait! You...' _Hiccup continued to watch in horror, eyes going back and forth as one or the other tried to hit their opponent, his frustration at the entire situation growing with every nudge or cry of pain.

Finally, he'd had enough. '_NO!_' he screamed in his mind. Aloud, he roared loudly enough to shake the arena.

Both Astrid and Toothless froze, Astrid grabbing his shirt with one hand, and Toothless holding her neck with one of his, and both their other arms poised to punch. They both looked over at Hiccup, who came running up, shoving them away from each other.

Toothless yelped indignantly, while Astrid leapt away with a "Hey!"

_'This won't solve anything!' _Hiccup said, having forgotten that neither one could understand him. He tried to get his message across with a glare, first at Astrid, and then turning to give the same disappointed expression to Toothless. Realizing once again that his words couldn't reach them, the viking-turned-dragon did the only thing he could think of at the moment and sat down angrily between them. Then he huffed, not wanting to meet either of their eyes and kept his eyes on his clawed hands.

Claws. He had been planning on writing to his father. For now, he could test it out on Astrid. At least it might get her to stop trying to attack Toothless. Glancing over at her, he saw her glaring at them, realizing that Hiccup wouldn't let her near Toothless. In contrast, the dragon-turned-human appeared to be perfectly happy to keep away from her.

Sighing, Hiccup began to dig his claw into the ground. Both Astrid and Toothless' expressions melted to surprise and confusion as they came warily over and looked at the dirt in front of Hiccup.

"Dragons can write?" the blond gasped to herself, although Hiccup heard it as plainly as if she'd yelled.

_I can't take you to Hiccup because I'm right here, Astrid. _He scratched the runes in as hard as he could, but the packed dirt made it difficult. When he was done, he stood back and gestured for Astrid to read.

She seemed to have a little bit of a problem at first, recognizing the runes, but having difficult discerning the writing in the baked dirt.

"I can't...t-take," she squinted, trying to make out the words, "you to...Hiccup because..." her eyes widened, and she read the rest of the sentence in silence. Then she looked over her shoulder, slowly, eyes wide.

"H-hiccup?"

_'YES!' _he grinned in triumph, nodding sagely.

"Really? You're Hiccup?" He nodded again.

She walked forward, holding a hand out, eyes wide with hope and realization. Oh yes, he knew what was coming next, and braced himself for it. Surely enough, the broad side of an ax smacked him across his jaw, causing Toothless to hiss again and causing Hiccup's eyes to water. Pushing aside the realization that dragons could cry for later contemplation, Hiccup just turned to look back at Astrid.

"That's for leaving without telling anyone!"

_'Alright, alright,' _he said mostly out of habit. _ 'I get it! I've learned my-'_

"And this is for being alright," she said softly, running forward and throwing her arms around his neck. In that moment, Hiccup felt all the confusion and fear he'd been feeling and ignoring for the last few days melt away. They'd come back later, he knew, but just sitting there with Astrid seemed to renew the hope in him that they'd get this all worked out somehow.

Across the arena, Stormfly rose to her feet, bellowing and startling Toothless, Astrid and Hiccup.

_'I say she belongs to me!' _ she bellowed in dragonese.

"Stormfly?" Astrid asked, turning around and looking at the approaching nadder.

_'It's not like that!' _Hiccup said hurriedly. _'She's my girlfriend!'_

That stopped the Nadder in his tracks, although she still did not look happy. _'Your what?'_

_'My girlfriend. My significant other. The girl I'm courting! My...' _ He wracked his brain for another description, but nothing came.

_'Mate?' _Fireworm suggested with all to evil of a note in her tone. If Hiccup could have blushed, he would have.

_'Uh, so to speak,'_ he muttered, glad that Astrid couldn't hear.

Stormfly eyed them suspiciously for several more seconds before turning around. _ 'I see,' she said. 'I watch you though! No funny flying!'_

Hiccup blinked at the phrase. Had that been what she'd meant to say? Did dragons have idioms and metaphors and the like?

"Hiccup, I'll be right back," Astrid said, sounding heart broken and like she didn't want to leave at all. The next minute had her standing next to Stormfly, scratching her and muttering soft words.

It took her a few minutes to calm the nadder down, but when she did, she came directly back to a rather amused Hiccup. She scowled at him, and then set a venomous glare to Toothless, and froze in her tracks.

"Wait, if you're Hiccup, then who're..." she paused, finger pointed at the dark-haired boy. "Wait, Toothless?"

That settled it. He had the most gorgeous, the strongest and the smartest girl in the whole world for a girlfriend! How had she put that together? Seriously?

Still watching her warily, Toothless nodded. Astrid blinked between the two of them for several seconds while the objects of her scrutiny waited for her reaction. Finally she closed her eyes and let out a breath, smile forming on her lips. An immense weight visibly seemed to lift from her shoulders.

"Oh Toothless," she said, walking up to him and holding her hands out placatingly, "I'm sorry. Of course you'd attack me if I were hurting or scaring Hiccup."

He perked up at that, although the disdainful look never quite left his eyes. When she reached him, she paused again probably unsure of what else to do to someone she normally scratched. Finally, she just patted him on the head, and slumped down next to him, leaning her back against Hiccup.

"So what on Earth happened to you two?" Hiccup was just considering how to answer her when she shot up. "Oh! I've got to go tell your dad! He's been worried sick about you, Hiccup! We all have!"

_'What else is new?' _he muttered in his mind, partially amused and pleased that people cared about him that much, partially annoyed that people still worried over him like mother geese. I'll be right back, I promise!"

With that, she shot to her feet, grabbed Hiccup's head and planted a kiss on his cheek, then ruffled Toothless' hair as she walked by (much to his annoyance).

_'Well,' _Hiccup thought as they watched her go,_ 'that went better than I thought it would.'_

xXx

Hiccup and Toothless exchanged glances when Astrid came back not 20 minutes later, kicking the door as she came in and looking absolutely murderous. She stalked over to them, completely ignoring every other dragon (much to the reptiles' relief), and thumped down next to Toothless, who inched away.

"Your father," she said through grit teeth, "is the biggest, most pig-headed, stubborn son of a jackel besides you that I've ever met!"

_'Thanks',_ Hiccup muttered, relieved that her temper wasn't directed at him or his former dragon. He couldn't keep the amused thought of, _'Tell me something I don't know,' _out of his head. What could he say? Stubbornness ran in the family.

"And now he thinks I'm crazy," she lamented, half in embarrassment, half in pure anger.

He couldn't help himself. Stretching out his arm, he scratched into the dirt in front of her, _you told him I was a dragon, didn't you._

It took her a minute to read it (it really wasn't as easy to write with a claw as it was with a quill or pencil), and when she finished she brought her knees up and rested her hand on her arms after she'd folded them across the top. "When you put it like that it does sound a little crazy."

_Maybe we can get Toothless to tell them he's Toothless. _

Astrid blinked at that, turning a questioning look up at him. "How?"

_Teach him how to say his name. _

She drew her eyebrows together skeptically, raising one of them as she looked over her shoulder at him. "You think that'll work?"

Hiccup nodded. She paused for a moment and then thought about it. If she could get him to tell them he's Toothless, even if it were only that one word and a bunch of gesturing, it might be enough to convince them.

"Alright," she said with an exaggerated sigh, turning to face Toothless. "Toothless, say 'Toothless'."

xXx

"No! Toothless! Toothless! Why can't you just say it?"

_'Well,'_ Hiccup thought as they began to enter their second hour, _'cross "teaching" off of Astrid's "when I grow up" list.'_

"Toofus," Toothless said, looking almost as frustrated as Astrid did at this point.

"Ugh! I give up!" She said for about the 30th time, slouching back against Hiccup's side, growling to herself under her breath. From the look he gave her, Toothless didn't much care for whatever she said, and seemed to want to ignore that he only had one working leg at the moment and try to jump her. Of course, he seemed to be having a somewhat difficult time shifting his weight to do so, as he had been sitting down all day.

_'Definitely time to intervene_,' Hiccup muttered in thought speak, and reached out to a fairly empty spot to scratch in some writing. It was amazing how much room a single sentence could take up when scratched in by a dragon's claw, and he'd already run out of room in front of Astrid. She noticed his movement and reluctantly crawled over to look.

"He doesn't have...to say...it perfectly," she read, following his claw marks, then paused for a moment, taking it in.

"Oh," she finally said, sitting back on her haunches. "So you think this will be good enough?"

He began to write again. "Looks...like we're...going to...find...out." She paused again, looking at the sentence and reading it again. Behind them, Toothless crawled forward, coming up next to her and regarding the marks on the ground with a curious cock of his head. The motion was so..._Toothless_ that Hiccup had to laugh out loud, the stadium filling with a rumbling.

"What do you mean?" Astrid asked. "And what's so funny?"

Hiccup nodded towards something behind them. Astrid turned to look, and seeing her movement, Toothless followed suit. Hiccup's father and uncle were walking towards them, looking none too happy.

"Sir!" Astrid said, standing up quickly as she could, showing respect to the clan leader.

"Alright, Astrid," he said, sounding much like he normally did when addressing Hiccup for one of his more hair-brained plans or schemes, "you said you found a clue to where Hiccup is?"

Her eyes lit up, realizing they'd come to hear her out. Of course, why they had to bring Spitelout was anyone's guess.

"Yes, sir! And Toothless!"

Spitelout raised his eyebrows, surprised, while Stoick looked...well, as stoic as ever.

He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a young man's voice speaking up. "Toofus!"

Both men turned their attention to the black-haired, green-eyed boy. "What?" Stoick asked.

Making an effort, Toothess pushed against Hiccup's side, trying to get up on one still wobbly leg and equally unstable peg. "Toofus!" he said, pointing to himself. "Toofus!"

Stoick sighed, putting a hand to his forehead, rubbing it. "Astrid, just because the boy says 'Toothless' doesn't mean that's what he is. He's obviously just picked it up from one of us saying it."

For once Hiccup stared at his father, stunned. His argument sounded..._logical _for once.

"But sir," she started, but he held up his hand. Not one to consider herself suicidal, Astrid stopped talking, although her fists clenched.

"Astrid, we want to find Hiccup as much as you do. This isn't helping."

"But look what he wrote!" she pointed down to the ground, only to see she stood in most of what Hiccup had scratched into the top layer of dirt, and most of it no longer showed. "Show them, Hiccup!"

Hiccup nodded and began scratching, but Stoick just shook his head and began walking away. "Whatever you say, Astrid." Spitelout shot a suspicious glance at all three of them before following.

"She's obviously been spending too much time with Hiccup," they heard one of the two men mutter. Astrid watched them go, looking between the two of them with an expression that bordered on disbelief and anger.

"Gobber!" Stoick called out to the top of the walk surrounding the Dragon pit. "See you in the hall for mead tonight?"

Astrid, Hiccup and Toothless looked up at the old viking standing and leaning on a part of the old cage that served as a railing. "I'll beat ya there, like always!" he yelled back down. Stoick and Spitelout left, shaking their heads.

"But...but did you just...did he just...?" Astrid started spouting, face going red in fury. After a few seconds of saying the same thing, looking between the gate where Stoick had left, and up at Gobber who had returned his attention to the pen, she finally decided she needed to release her frustration, pulled the ax that normally hung at her side out, and threw it at the wall, where it stuck. Hiccup couldn't help his jaw dropping. Toothless also looked on, impressed, and then startled when Astrid rounded on them. The sudden movement caused him to be thrown him off balance, and he tumbled to the dirt, hands waving frantically.

Hiccup raised his tail, and barely caught him with his tail before the dragon-turned-human landed rather painfully on his tailless rump.

"Did you see that?" she hissed. Hiccup looked between the the ax and where his father had disappeared wondering which of the two 'thats' she was referring to. "He just blew me off! Like...like I was you!" She gestured to him.

_'Thank you, for summing that up.'_ Hiccup thought dully, giving her a rather displeased glare. '_And that's my father for you. He's like that. Get used to it.' _

"HA! HA! HA!" laughter resounded down to them from Gobber, who regarded them with a glint in his eye. "Ye seem to have landed yerself in a bit of a pickle there, Hiccup," he said with a grin, showing off the large rock he'd placed in a missing slot of a tooth.

Hiccup's eyes went wide as Astrid's narrowed.

"Wait," she said, "you _knew_? You knew this whole time and didn't say anything?"

"O' course I knew! Or I believed ya," he continued to grin down at them, gesturing to Hiccup. "That one dinna act like a dragon at all. Not that difficult to believe. But if ye want to convince everyone that that's really Hiccup and Toothless, then yer gonna have ta do better than that."

Astrid eyed him warily. "What do you mean?" she asked at the same time Hiccup thought it.

"Ye've gotta do somthin' much bigger than getting that pipsqueak to say his name."

"Like what?"

Suddnely his grin _changed_, and Hiccup got a rather uneasy feeling.


End file.
